BURNABY, B.C. – Michael North scored 10 minutes into the second half, with his goal standing as the game-winner in a tough 1-0 road loss for the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team against Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Simon Fraser University Saturday night at Terry Fox Field on the SFU campus.
The Yellowjackets were held without a shot on goal in the match and totaled just three in the game, as their three-game winning streak was snapped in the defeat. MSUB limited SFU to just one shot on target and six in the match, but North made the Clan's only attempt on frame count with his third goal of the season.
With the loss, MSUB fell to 7-4-3 on the season and 5-3-2 in conference play. Senior
Sam Butterworth had two of MSUB's three shots on the match, with freshman
Jacob Richter contributing the other.
Garret Robinson,
Rhys Lambert,
Tom Saltwell,
Cameron Lee, and
Julian Toenges each played all 90 minutes for the 'Jackets, and
Fernando Perez was close behind with 87 minutes in the match.
North had half of his team's shots, as he helped SFU improve to 6-3-4 overall and 5-2-3 in conference play.
The Clan held MSUB without a shot over the opening 45 minutes, with Butterworth's first attempt of the game missing high in the 53rd minute.
Richter missed wide of the target with a shot in the 78th minute, and Butterworth's attempt six minutes later was wide of the goal as well.
SFU goalkeeper Brandon Watson earned his seventh shutout of the season as the Clan's back line protected him well.
THE BUZZ: Due to an issue crossing the Canadian border, MSUB was without GNAC leading scorer
Ricardo Palomino as well as junior forward
Thiago Novis for the match…Butterworth was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for taking two of MSUB's three shots…the win gave SFU the season series between the teams, as the 'Jackets and Clan battled to a 1-1 double-overtime draw on Sept. 26 in Billings.
AHEAD: The Yellowjackets return to the United States to face Western Washington University on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Mountain time, and the Vikings are coming off of a 3-0 win over the University of Mary on Thursday.
